Thirty-first Sunday in Ordinary Time

I have to admit to being a little distracted in mass today. I was asked last week if I would be able to play the guitar for this week's mass as our normal accompanist was not in town. For the most part, it turned out fine (except I really struggled with the D minor chord and I was in much too low of a key for the final song). That didn't stop me from "fretting" about it nearly the whole time.

This is one of the reasons that I prefer just singing at mass rather than playing the guitar. It requires a great deal more concentration and I am tremendously self-conscious about it.

That said, I still like doing it. I am really glad that I made the effort to learn how to play the guitar (at least, to the degree that I can play the guitar) and that I kept practicing in the decade or so since then. Otherwise, days like today would find us singing acapella (which can be nice too).

As for the readings and homily: live your faith with enthusiasm in every part of your day. Do not live hypocritically, preaching difficult ideals that you do not live up to. Do not use your religion as a means of self-importance and profit. Rather, live to serve God and one another.

At least, I think that's what they were about ... I was a little over-focused on D minor.